Michael Anthony Zatopa

I do not know why his name is under Juvenile Law, Family, Personal Injury. We used him for Special Need Education Lawyer. I got his name from PHP and attended one of his class held by PARCA. I liked him. When I was in need of a lawyer for due process, I talked with him beforehand and decided to... hire him. He attained a lot of information for prior IEPs and CCS reports. He asked me what I wanted. I asked him the strategy how I proposed my requests as some parents were telling me to ask for more because district only gave a part what parents/lawyer proposed. He said if my requests were reasonable, he would get what I wanted. So I wrote my proposal and asked him if it's reasonable. He probably just copied and pasted. And then filed due process. He was contacted by the district lawyer. I forgot exactly how long, I think it was about one month after we filed due process. He asked me what to do about the case as it's law requirement we had to indicate what's our next step, drop the case or continue the case. I asked what is his suggestions. He said we could drop the case as the case has started. So I dropped case. Then the district gave me a counter offer which is about 60-70% what I want. He suggested me to accept the offer and see how it work. If it's not working, we would start another due process. He did not even counter offer once. I did not agree. He said he could not work for me if I do not accept his suggestion. So I fired him after that. I agree with the previous reviewer said he retained his attorney fees on obtaining IEPs and other information. He asked me to get a Psychology report. I did and forwarded report to him. I was charged for all the time reviewing all the information. But when I had conversation with him, I am not sure how much he knew about the case. I have to repeat a few times where the law was broken in this case. I do not feel he knew much about the case nor he had much intention to fight for the case. He did not counter offer at all after the district's offer although I was charged a lot of money. I would not get a lawyer if I was not frustrated enough by the school/disctrict. His act added salt to the injury. I felt so helpless and hopeless at the time.

Retained attorney for a due process hearing about our son's IEP. Had to pay the attorney an upfront retainer of about $3,400, I believe. Attorney gave the case to an associate who worked from home with a crying baby. Attorney referred us to a specific pediatric development specialist for an ev...aluation (expert witness opinion). Had to get on a four-month waiting list for s for that. During the wait, attorney deducted $500 from the retainer each month for "reviewing the file." We eventually get our son's evaluation. It did not support our case-- in fact, it supported the school district's position more than ours. Attorney was caught by surprise, case was dead. We spent $3,400 for about 1/2 hours of the attorney's time, and maybe 1.5 hours of the distracted associate attorney's time.